My 1940's Jacket.

Description

I created this jacket through Sherry’s Tailoring Sew-along. It was an amazing experience. I had already made one jacket and learned a lot from that. This tutorial answered a lot of questions that I had about jacket construction (example changing the seam allowances on the collar to make it fold over and not show the seam edge). I also did about 7 muslins of this jacket to get the right fit. It was a lot of work, but I am very happy with how it turned out.
I will be making a matching skirt for this as well. The skirt just happened to match up with the pattern.
I blogged about it here: http://www.rebeccashelly.com/blog/?p=619

1 Reply

Thanks Sara,
I also ended up using the bias tape maker that I bought when I was with you guys.
I posted it on my blog, but not here yet. It is actually for a free Collete Tank Top that you may find useful. I remember you talking about making a tank. http://www.rebeccashelly.com/blog/?p=564

Gorgeous Jacket. Well worth all that hard work, I’ll say. Very inspiring too. Did you have to adjust the pattern much? I have just bought 4 vintage dress patterns but already I notice that 50’s and 60s women clearly had very different proportions. The fact that they are not multisize patterns makes me wonder how on earth I am going to draft the right size!

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What I would recommend doing is to copy the pattern onto new paper. Then, measure your body and adjust the new pattern in only the areas that need to be changed. The book Fit For Real People helped me to know how to change things once I created the muslin. It shows the problem that happens on someone’s body and then how to fix it. You should go for it. It just takes a little measuring and adjusting. This is challenging but I am now finding it as one of the interesting parts of making something fit just right for you.

That is so kind of you to get back to me with that info. I will indeed check out that book. Thank you so much for the tips. I’m quite excited about the prospect of creating something perfectly fitted. Just got to learn some patience I guess!

This is a beautiful fit. I wish I’d done that sew along! I’m slowly building up my nerve to tackle a jacket- I’m collecting patterns… when I finally get up to it I’ll have a hard time deciding which one to make first lol.

Yes, I did the sew-along – wouldn’t have been able to manage a jacket without it! And living in the same town as Sherry meant that I could take advantage of all her shopping tips – I got my fusible interfacing at the shop she recommended :-)

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